Monday, October 10, 2005

The AgFirst Bank Building. Inset: A bruised Sanford."I thought I was emerging from a tunnel into a beautiful sunset," says Sanford.

AP- Columbia

Sixty miles is an exhaustive distance to ride a bicycle, even for an experienced cyclist like Mark Sanford. During the final stretch of his second annual Family Fitness Challenge, Sanford drifted from the pack of riders into the side of the AgFirst Bank Building in midtown Columbia.

"I shouldn't have had that last Red Bull," said the governor in a press conference after the ride from Aiken to the capital city. "I started hallucinating, big time. There was this huge fire hydrant, and then I thought I was emerging from a tunnel into a beautiful sunset. That's the last thing I remember."

Sanford's physician diagnosed the governor with a mild concussion, spokesman Joel Sawyer added Sunday evening. "At first, Mark was was blabbering something about supporting public schools and working with the legislature," Sawyer said. "I knew we had to get him medical attention right away."Luckily, no other riders followed Sanford into the side of the building. "I saw him veer off course," said Corley Gadsden, a cyclist from Easley. "Something in my gut told me that following this guy was the wrong answer. Thank goodness, you know?"